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The purpose of the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) is to increase accountability and transparency in the use of grant funds while reducing the administrative burden on both state agencies and grantees. The law provides for the development of a coordinated, non-redundant process to establish effective and efficient oversight of the selection and monitoring of grant recipients, ensuring quality programs; limiting fraud, waste, and abuse; and defining the purpose, scope, applicability, and responsibilities in the life cycle of a grant. Illinois state agencies are in the process of implementing the requirements of GATA for the fiscal year 2018 grant cycle. ​

Registration Process

GATA Grantee Registration Portal Open

The grantee prequalification registration portal is now active for fiscal year 2018, and may be accessed directly on the
Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) website. All grantees must complete the registration process and be qualified to do business with the state of Illinois.

To be qualified to
apply for a fiscal year 2018 grant award, an entity must complete the following four steps:

Authentication (New for fiscal year 2018)

The Grantee Portal can be accessed through the Grantee Links heading on the GATA website. A personal or business email address is required to establish an account. Authentication is required through the Illinois.gov authentication portal. It establishes or verifies the relationship between an individual and the organization they represent. Authentication is performed once for each individual associated with a registration. If your email was not previously associated with the organization that you represent, click the “Create a new account" link below the “Sign in" button. After you have entered the required information you will receive a confirmation email that will instruct you to click a link to complete the account creation process. For help with the Illinois.gov Authentication Portal please visit the
Accounts Page. Additional instructions may also be found on the
Grantee Portal FAQ Page.

Registration

Once your Illinois.gov account is created you must return to the Grantee Portal log in screen and enter your user name and password to continue. The system will then ask for your organization's DUNS number. If the DUNS number for your organization is on record with GATA from the previous year the system will associate you with your organization. The process may require the approval of the primary GATA system registrant for your organization. After accessing your entities registration information, you must click the “Edit" button found near the top of the screen. This will allow you to correct/confirm the listed information and select the appropriate organization type for your entity.

If the DUNS number that you enter is not found in the GATA system, the system will invite you to create a new grantee account for the entity related to that DUNS number. Please confirm that you entered the correct DUNS number before creating a new account. Creation of a new grantee account is accomplished by providing your organization's:

Secretary of State ID (NOTE: the following types of organizations have been deemed EXEMPT from this requirement: school districts, colleges, universities, regional offices of education, special education joint agreements and education for employment consortiums);

Organization name; and

Address.

Grantee Pre-qualification

All entities must be qualified to do business with the State of Illinois. To be qualified for a grant award, an entity must:

Be in Good Standing with the Illinois Secretary of State, as applicable) (
Verify Good Standing). (NOTE: the following types of organizations have been deemed EXEMPT from this requirement: school districts, colleges, universities, regional offices of education, special education joint agreements and education for employment consortiums.);

Not be on the Illinois Stop Payment list; and

Not be on the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Provider Sanctions list.

Pre-qualification status will be verified after Grantee Registration is submitted and nightly thereafter. If an entity has a pre-qualification issue, the specific issue and remediation support is provided thru the grantee portal. Entities on the Federal Excluded Parties List are not eligible to do business with the State of Illinois.

Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment (ICQ)

Entities must complete a fiscal year 2018 Internal Controls Questionnaire (ICQ) as the Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment. The ICQ is completed once, annually for each fiscal year. All state agencies will utilize the results of the ICQ. The entity can access the ICQ from the grantee portal. The portal provides access to prior year ICQ responses for those entities that received grants in fiscal year 2017. The fiscal year 2018 ICQ template must be completed prior to making application for a fiscal year 2018 grant. The ICQ should be completed by someone with financial or accounting experience.

The status of compliance with each of the requirements described above is displayed in the Grantee Portal for each registered entity. Again, completion of these four steps is required prior to making application for funding for fiscal year 2018.

Entities must also complete a programmatic risk assessment for each grant award in fiscal year 2018. The programmatic risk assessment will be included in each electronic grant application through ISBE. Paper grant applicants will be directed to the IWAS system once applications have been received.

The ISBE “GATA Grantee Status Report" provides updated status information for all ISBE grantees and can be found under “Resources" on the left side of the
ISBE GATA website. Please direct any questions you might have related to the GATA registration and pre-qualification process to
GATA@isbe.net or 217-782-5630.

Overview

Need– Fifty-two Illinois grant-making agencies with 462 grant appropriations that make up 66 percent of the state budget each had different processes, terminology, data collection protocols, and technology, resulting in varying degrees of efficacy and inefficient redundant requirements of grantees.

Goals – GATA drives the development of a new, statewide grant administration system. The objectives are to improve outcomes by becoming more performance-focused while increasing accountability, transparency, and efficiency across state government and the grantee community through the application of standardized processes.

Method – GATA adopts the federal uniform guidance (2 CFR Part 200 “super circular”) for all grants and develops supplemental rules for areas not addressed by the federal regulations. The supplemental rules were developed by approximately 15 work groups made up of representatives from state agencies and the grantee community. Implementation of GATA will also include the centralization and automation of some aspects of grant administration as well as the adoption of the cognizant agency approach to assignment of responsibilities.

Scope – The super circular is applicable to all federal funding received by ISBE with the exception of National School Lunch Act funding, which is partially exempted. GATA is applicable to all state-funded grant programs unless exempted in whole or part by the Office of the Governor. ISBE has received exemption for some grant programs such as General State Aid, Illinois Free and Reduced Breakfast, Mandated Categorical programs, Driver Education, Reorganization Incentives, ROE Bus Driver Training, and Tax Equivalent Grant programs.

Organization – GATA is administered by the Governor’s Office of Management & Budget (GOMB) with the advice of the Illinois Single Audit Commission. Each grant-making agency is required to appoint a Chief Accountability Officer who is responsible for implementation and compliance by the agency and communications with the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit of GOMB.

Status – The rulemaking phase of the GATA project is largely complete. GOMB is now managing the implementation phase, which includes the development of policies and procedures, the provision of training, and the continued development of technological tools. Some of the planned centralization and automation of pre-award processes have been delayed due to the budget impasse. However, the regulatory requirements are fully applicable to FY 2018 grants. Agencies are required to incorporate GATA provisions into existing processes as needed to ensure compliance for FY 2018.​

ISBE Resources

Exceptions to the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) (30 ILCS 708/1 et seq.) and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (Uniform Guidance) (2 CFR Part 200) The Office of the Governor has the authority to approve exceptions to the requirements of GATA and the Uniform Guidance pursuant to 30 ILCS 708/55 and 44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000.40. Pursuant to that authority, the exceptions that are found at
www.isbe.net/gata/pdf/gata-exceptions.pdf have been approved, and are made part of the grants awarded by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This listing will be updated as additional exceptions are approved.

In accordance with a Delegation Agreement between the United States Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and pursuant to its authority under the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) and administrative rules, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget has granted ISBE an exception to the federal Uniform Guidance and GATA regarding the determination of indirect cost rates which may be utilized by all grantees that receive a state award or federal pass-through award for grant programs administered by ISBE.

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) may utilize either the indirect cost rate the LEA negotiates annually with ISBE (school districts) or the state-wide average indirect cost rate calculated by ISBE (Regional Offices of Education, Intermediate Service Centers, special education cooperatives, area vocational centers, charter schools, and university laboratory schools approved by ISBE). These LEAs will also utilize the ISBE-established indirect cost rates for state and federally funded grant programs administered by other state agencies.

Not-for-profit agencies, community/faith-based organizations, and for-profit entities may utilize the state-wide average indirect cost rate calculated by ISBE for all state and federal grant programs administered by ISBE. Colleges and Universities will be restricted to a maximum indirect cost rate of 8% or other indirect cost rate calculated by their cognizant federal agency, whichever is less, for state and federal grants administered by ISBE. These non-LEA entities may choose to negotiate a separate indirect cost rate to utilize for state and federally funded grant programs administered by other state agencies.